MNSU student spotlight profile: Bethany Haus

Joshua Schuetz
Staff Writer

It would be difficult to find a student who exemplifies that motto and its application more than Bethany Haus, who was awarded the student spotlight in November in recognition of her exemplary contributions to the university. Through her research, Haus has the potential to change the lives of many, even though she has not yet graduated college.

Haus is a junior pursuing a degree in Biomedical Science with a minor in Psychology. Besides being the leader of a university research project, she also serves as the Vice President of the Pre-Med club. She is a member of the Tri-Beta Honor Society. Tri Beta, in fact, has given Haus and her fellow researches a national grant for their project. “We’re pretty proud of that because that’s a national grant that we got,” Haus said.

Her research project is concerned with surgical implants, especially those which interact with or replace bone. The current kinds of implants commonly used have a tendency to degrade over time, in such a way that can lead to additional surgeries being needed. According to Haus, that can be life threatening for certain groups of patients. “For some people, that can put a lot of stress on their bodies, especially if they’re older,” she said. Some patients may not make it through the surgery, although that is relatively rare.

“We want to find a replacement so that we would be able to put the implant in, then the bone would grow through it, so you would never need to replace it,” Haus said. 

Haus plans on attending medical school after receiving her undergraduate degree, and ultimately wants to work in clinical pediatrics. She wants to work with children, focusing on preventative medical care. “You can do a lot to influence where their lives are going to go and instill healthy habits into them,” Haus said.

Haus said that pursuing the sciences and medicine more generally shouldn’t intimidate students. “If you believe that you’d enjoy that field or had an interest in science, pursue it. See where it leads,” she said. She added that students can, and often do, change majors or emphases if they find that they would fit better in another discipline. “Something great about life is that it’s never just static, you can change it, regardless of what state you’re in,” said Haus.

Feature photo courtesy of Bethany Haus.